


Pidge in Space

by avagueidea



Series: It's Still Happening [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, An excuse to write goofy sci-fi premises, Gen, Pidge deals with weird stuff in space, Pidge sets up her Comm system, pidge centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 21:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17009850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avagueidea/pseuds/avagueidea
Summary: The Universe is a strange place, and somehow Pidge seems to always find the weirdest parts of it, from wait ghosts to intergalactic tumbleweeds.First things first, though, she has to finish setting up her covert intergalactic communication system, and that includes a trip to the Bermuda Triangle of the universe.(Includes: The missing chapter toCommunication in Space, and explains the mission Pidge was on before the last two chapters.)





	Pidge in Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge finds herself with an odd companion as she waits for the train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished Season 8 and realized I never posted this story!! So, I picked it up and dusted it off and I'm giving it to you.  
> This was written back around season 4, I think? I just have so many goofy little Pidge dealing with weird stuff in space drabbles I'd forgotten about.
> 
> For any who read [Communication in Space](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8842795), this is the mission Pidge came back late from. And if you haven't, read any of the [series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/587095) that's cool too. It's more of it's own thing.
> 
> .

        Pidge had messed up.

        In all the excitement to get her last transmitter up for her Comm system, Pidge had leapt into things with a little less caution than usual. Given the fact that she was alone in the dilapidated ruins of some ancient techno-society, with dwindling food, water, and no means of communication(yet), she _maybe_ should have thought this mission out better.

        She’d been walking for two cycles of the planet, which felt like about a day and a half, but it was hard to say given even her clock was on the fritz in the cacophony of signals bombarding the planet. She did feel a little heartened, at least, to make it into the main metropolitan area where she’d intended to set down originally. She should have had Hunk double check the calculations for her blind descent into the haze of activity below. She hadn’t even ended up within reading distance of her goal, but then again, it was hard to tell how far off course she was with the static jamming her tech.

        She’d known the planet would be trouble long before setting down, but it was something else entirely being in the midst of it. The air was alive with clashing transmissions, too cluttered to trace their origin or decipher them. It was insanely active for a planet supposedly abandoned. Nothing was alive down there, as far as any scans could tell. It was like they just forgot to turn anything off when they left. Seven thousand years was a long time to leave the lights on when no one was home. She wished this at least meant that she could get into some computer system but no terminals she’d come across seemed to still be functional despite all the buzzing noise around her.

        The screen on her wrist fizzled, trying to take shape. For a moment, it cleared enough to suggest a direction. Before she could take note, the interference overtook it again.

        She groaned and lifted her arm, craning her neck up to stare at the scrambled screen, hoping in vain that she could somehow reestablish that fluke connection. It had been hours of walking and flailing her arm around already today, and she was getting tired. Upper body work outs could go to hell, her muscles burned from keeping her arm lifted for two cycles of wandering. Sleeping on a hard metal bench the night before hadn’t helped her aches and pains either.

        She knew this was her own fault.

        She’d been stubborn recently. It was hard being the baby of the group. Sure, they’d stopped coddling her once Keith taught her how to put someone in a choke hold that could knock them out. Still, she was the last hold out as a ‘kid’, according to the Earth calendar she’d recalibrated recently. She was a way out still before she hit 18.

        It had been getting harder to check the calendar, the stress of knowing how long they’d been gone weighing on her each time she looked. She’d been thinking about it more and more as she neared the end of her project. Suddenly the time meant something again. Suddenly it mattered how long she’d been away. Questions started popping into her head. She wondered what had happened while she was in space; if anyone was looking for her still.

        She had found Matt and her father. This had all started with the absolute knowledge that they had to be alive, that their disappearance was all just a conspiracy and she’d unravel it. She had rushed headlong into everything, unable to live with the mystery of her family’s disappearance. When Pidge had proper evidence to back up her claim she had planned to tell her mom all of it, but in the end, she’d been left with only the knowledge that she’d lost first her husband and son, and then her daughter.

        The guilt hadn’t hit Pidge until months into space. Her mom hadn’t even known she’d gone to The Garrison, let alone under a false name. Instead she just had to deal with Pidge never coming home. Her texts and calls had already petered out as she became obsessed with her mission the months leading up to finding the Blue Lion. She wondered how long it took before her mom called the boarding school Pidge had supposedly gone to. Her horror to learn her daughter had _never_ shown up. The panic when she couldn’t track her down. The police reports. The accusations. She wondered if they ever figured out she was the Pidge Gunderson that had disappeared. Then again, she wondered what sort of explanation the garrison gave about the students that had been lost on their watch.

        Here she was, though, making the same mistakes.

        It had always been a bad habit of hers, running off without explaining herself. She had grown so used to no one else being able to keep up, so she’d just do it herself. She still had to remind herself she was part of a team. She had Hunk, Allura, Coran, and Shiro at her disposal at all hours of the day. Hell, even Lance and Keith were smarter than her in the right topics, though she’d never admit that to either of them. She hadn’t shaken that bad habit though, of assuming she was the smartest person in the room. Well, she _was_ still the smartest person in the room most often, but that wasn’t enough when the universe was at stake.

        She had gotten better at remembering that as a paladin, but she’d regressed as she got closer to finishing her project. She’d thrown herself into the last step with a reckless abandon to rival even Keith’s. She wondered if she should try her hand at piloting Red sometime. Keith always thought Red would like her, even if no one else saw it…

        A flicker and a blip came from her wrist and Pidge’s eyes shot up to the screen.

        Left.

        She swiveled and held her arm out, following the faint flickers of hope through the static. She watched her wrist, lifted far above her head, taking quick steps following the signal.

        It might have been pure luck that she glanced down before she took that last step forward, or maybe subconsciously she noticed a slight change in the air, an almost imperceptible updraft on the dead planet. Either way, her eyes caught the void in front of her just in time to yelp and throw herself backward instead of into it. She stumbled away from the sudden end of the metal landing underfoot. There was a sharp 30 foot drop off into what looked like a decrepit track, at least a half mile across with guiding rails crisscrossing in intricate patterns along the bottom.

        Pidge groaned as soon as her heart stopped thrumming from the near-death experience. Scanning the edge, Pidge saw no sign of a way to climb down the sheer shelf, even as her wrist chirped with its dim, hopeful beeps, insisting that she needed to be on the other side.

        She threw herself down on a bench, a safe distance away from the edge. The once plush cushion cracked under her and crumbled until she sat with only a pile of dust separating her from the buzzing metal underneath. Everything metal buzzed, and everything here was metal, so _she_ constantly buzzed. The soft but prevalent vibrations had sunk into her bones. It made the place feel alive despite how dead the planet technically was. It was a strange sensation. Technological life humming away with nothing living to utilize it.

        Pidge closed her eyes, trying to center herself and think up a plan. The planet was losing light and soon she’d be stumbling over the rusted wreckage with nothing but her suits lights. They’d do in a pinch but not on treacherous ground like the hundreds of rails running below her. She screwed her eyes shut tight, face scrunching up as she scoured her brain for a brilliant solution, but the vibrations rattling through her sent her mind off in strange directions.

        Pidge wondered why this planet hadn’t been scavenged. Sure, it did something to scramble sensors, but people flew more dangerous landings by sight alone. People did crazy things for good scrap when they were desperate. She’d seen it. This planet was ripe with strange metals and odd gadgets. The whole place was plated with a metal that seemed as durable as the Lions’. While coating and concrete had washed away with time and heavy bombardment, the metal base of everything she walked on remained strong and solid. Someone could certainly have put the remains of this place to good use, but no one had.

        Pidge had set up surveillance on the planet before planning her trip. It was a fair way into Galra Space, nearly the origin point for octant navigation. She wanted to avoid drawing attention to her plan, and sneak by any patrols that went by. It turned out there were none to worry about avoiding, though. Ships, even military, avoided the sector like some sort of Space Bermuda Triangle. Logs showed the Galra attacked once, 7 thousand years ago, then left. She couldn’t understand why they would wipe a place out and not even plunder it.

        Pidge’s face scrunched up as her irritation grew. She had no answers. She didn’t like that. She’d never developed a way to cope with not understanding something, since she rarely had to deal with it on any subject she cared about. She was getting frustrated and her mind whirled in circles trying to come to the most logical conclusions with too much missing data.

 

         “Are you waiting for the Rail?”

 

        Pidge’s eyes snapped open. Her hand flew to her Bayard. It flashed green and menacing in the dark. Except it wasn’t dark. During her internal musing the natural lighting had blinked away, replaced by a dim set of streetlights, flickering periodically down, running as far as the eye could see following the giant metal ravine. She remained poised to strike as she stared down the stranger illuminated in the flickering lights.

        The face that placidly stared back at her was a little transparent. Its dark eyes were set deep in a face shaped with heavy, graceful strokes that made it look soft, but sturdy. The creature wasn’t exactly pretty, but ethereal seemed to fit, aided by the faint view of the bench that showed through its form.

         “What the hell?” Pidge managed after a moment, eyes darting around. She slid herself to the other end of the seat. “Where did you come from?” she asked, instead of the obvious ‘what are you?’. That question had become a little silly after so much time in space.

         “I am here,” the ghostly figure replied. Pidge paused.

         “What, like, you were already here when I sat down?” Pidge asked.

         “No, not that I am aware. But I am here,” it explained, not very helpfully.

         “Okaaaaay…” Pidge dragged out as she tried to decide how to restart her failed line of questioning.

         “Do you come here to sit?” the creature asked.

         “I… guess so.” Pidge admitted. “I don’t really know where I am or how to get where I need to be.” She wasn’t sure why she was admitting her troubles. Its deep set eyes made the question seem so sincere, she felt compelled to answer, though.

         “Do you not know how you got here?” it asked. Its voice was even, but it felt like it held a warmth still. Pidge felt compelled to answer truthfully again.

         “No. Well, yeah sort of,” she frowned, her hands waving as she stammered through her answer, “I mean, I dropped myself off here for a reason! I just got a little pushed off my course. Now I’m not really able to find where I’m going…” She trailed off.

         “Are you waiting for the Rail?” It returned to the first question.

        Pidge followed its eyes and looked out towards the giant metallic gully, like a dried-up river bed in the decay of thousands of years with no trace of train or trolley running down it. “Uhm… I don’t think it’s coming any time soon,” Pidge explained.

         “I can wait with you then, if it is a long time,” it said, eyes still out towards the tracks. It didn’t seem to see that the world around it was empty and dead. A chill slowly started to creep up Pidge’s spine. Something was wrong with this things perception of the world. Logically, she felt like she should run, but she found, as its deep eyes came back to hers, that she was just glad not to be alone. This specter was better than the vast nothingness around her. It gave shape to the living, breathing feel of technology that surrounded her.

         “I don’t think it’s ever coming,” Pidge clarified. The creature’s form flickered for a moment as it looked down and then back to Pidge. The form suddenly went from ghostly to holographic in Pidge’s eyes.

         “The track is in functional order,” it stated. Pidge could have almost laughed. This was some sort of program. It must be. The creepiness factor instantly plummeted. This was something Pidge knew how to deal with. Technology was much easier for Pidge to cope with than the other stuff. The weird stuff that Matt claimed was still science, not magic, but Pidge wasn’t so sure.

         “Something must be blocking it. No transports have come through here in a very long time. Can you locate any blocks on the track?” she asked. Maybe it was linked to a maintenance program, or something that could help her navigate. The thing shook its head. So, it wasn’t hooked up to maintenance, darn. But maybe it could still help her navigate.

         “Are you requesting transportation?” it asked before Pidge had time to think of a next question.

         “How do I request transport?” she asked, giving a clear question for whatever system was at work behind the hologram.

         “By your civilian band or personal account number,” the program looked down and it frowned. “Ah, but you are not a civilian.” It looked around again and its expression shifted to something that didn’t seem quite right, as it recognized the world differently. “I see. There are no citizens.” It seemed to take stock of this and nodded in a way so solemn that Pidge started to question her hypothesis. This wasn’t acting like a functional interface. There was no reason for an interface to be programed to act sad.

         “Uhm… yeah, no one’s been around here for a while before me,” she explained, trying to speak delicately in case it had feelings. Just because it was mechanical didn’t mean it didn’t have feelings. She’d learned that the hard way already.

         “For a while… Ah. Yes. I am here for much of it,” it said. The insistent present tense the hologram used was starting to feel strange to Pidge, but she pressed on.

         “So, it seems like I won’t be able to call a transport.” She sighed, hope fading again. She’d probably have to start heading down the track until she found some sort of bridge across. She tried to calculate if she could safely use her jet pack to get in and out of the tracks, but the far side looked even higher and she didn’t like the idea of getting stuck down there. They sat together for a while, Pidge formulating ideas and the hologram sitting in silence beside her for a long moment before it spoke again.

         “I am Aevi. It seems you do not know me.” A smile came on to the holograms alien face and for just a moment Pidge believed she _should_ know her already. She almost felt like she did. Then the moment passed.

         “I’m Katie,” Pidge offered. This earned her a curious look, its head tilting.

         “Do you have another name, Katie?” she asked. Pidge felt suspicion creep over her, but when she looked at the face that familiarity tugged at her again.

         “Yes,” she said, but hesitated to clarify. Something strange was going on. Pidge could feel it.

        Aevi’s eyes smiled more than her mouth. She leaned in to inspect Pidge. Seeing her so close made her age hard to gauge, though Pidge scolded herself for thinking a computer generated image would show its age. She couldn’t shake the sense that it was old, though. Not that it looked old, just that it _was_. She supposed it had to be if it had been around before this place was destroyed.

         “Ah. You are taller when I meet you,” Aevi offered, finally leaning back.

        “Taller?” Pidge frowned. “Are you from an alternate universe?” she asked suddenly, Slav’s ramblings coming to mind.

         “I only see one universe as I understand,” she replied, not bothered by the comment. Pidge _was_ bothered by the response though. She gave the hologram a hard look. Unperturbed, Aevi went on. “I can wait with you,” she informed. “Would you like to talk?”

         “Not really,” Pidge replied stubbornly, sitting back in the seat. She wouldn’t admit that she was glad for the company. Instead, she crossed her arms and fell into a petulant posture to show her lack of care.

 

        Pidge wasn’t sure how long had passed, but she felt herself becoming restless. She’d come up with no plan still. Clearly, sitting wasn’t helping her get her brain juices flowing. She felt rested at least, instead of panicked. That was something that the hologram seemed to give her, a sense of peace and company in this buzzing, abandoned city.

         “Okay!” Pidge announced, hopping to her feet. The hologram looked up at her curiously.

         “Yes?” Aevi asked.

         “I’m going.” Pidge said. She’d walk until she found a way down into the tracks and a way back up the other side. If nothing else she could use her bayard. The range wouldn’t get her all the way down, but the extra bit wouldn’t be too bad of a drop. Getting back up the other side might be tricky, but with the little thrusters on her suit she should be able to latch onto something and haul herself up. It was the best plans she had.

        Aevi stood, nodding. Pidge waited for a preprogrammed goodbye, like service programs often had. Instead she was met with curious eyes. She nodded and started away awkwardly, but found the hologram following her.

         “You can leave the waiting area?” Pidge asked, surprised.

         “Of course,” Aevi’s voice lightened, and she sounded amused. “Is there a reason you do not think I can?”

         “Uh… no I guess not,” Pidge said. She thought the program had been triggered by her entering the waiting station and would end by doing the inverse. She was surprised how happy she was to have the company as she walked.

         “So… how long have you been running?” Pidge asked.

         “I am walking,” Aevi replied. Pidge glanced up to her, about to clarify but something in her expression seemed amused.

         “Fiiiine,” Pidge said, “How long have you been here?” she tried again.

         “Many times. Most times I am here,” she replied. Pidge furrowed her brow. This speech pattern kept throwing her off. She wondered if it was an alien linguistic thing that the tech couldn’t translate as well as living creatures.

         “Are you… sometimes other places?” Pidge tried.

         “I am,” she agreed. “This is the first visit for you?”

         “Uh, yeah. No offense to your home, or whatever, but this place is not the most… tourist friendly,” Pidge said. “I don’t imagine you get a lot of visitors.”

         “I talk to many travelers,” Aevi assured. Pidge guessed there would be no reason for the program to turn on between usage, so it probably didn’t count the time between running as substantial. Why leave a program running while it was alone? That sounded like the perfect way to get insane AIs taking over old techno planets, left millennia to go insane on its own. Good call by the train support programmers.

         “What sort of travelers have you talked to?” Pidge asked, just wanting to keep a conversation up as they walked through more destroyed, haunted looking areas. This section had definitely been bombarded heavily. It made it harder to pick around the rubble, but that meant there was hope for an easier way down.

         “What sort of encounter are you curious about?” she asked.

         “Tell me a weird story!” Pidge demanded. There was a sound like a chuckle.

         “Okay… I meat a contrafeci-,” the hologram started.

         “A what?” Pidge asked.

         “A large species of bipedal Akupenser,” she explained. Pidge shook her head. “They are very tall but very flexible, as they have no rigid spine. This one insists on waiting in a large jar of water, rather than using a water mask,” she explained. “Every time he steps in, it over flows and every time he steps out he has to refill it. He talks to me, his body coiled and folded in the jar to leave only his mouth out of the water. For the longer waits he asks me to I cap his jar.”

         “Gross,” Pidge said with a laugh. She was trying to imagine this creature but couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it. She would have to have the castle show her a Contrafeci when she got back.

         “Okay, what else you got? I want to be able to imagine it properly,” Pidge insisted.

         “I think it is wisest not to imagine that visual too vividly,” Aevi said. Pidge laughed again as Aevi thought for a moment. “Trakus?” she asked. Pidge thought and then shook her head, “A Pelkim?” Another shake of the head. “Precipere?”

         “Ah! That one I know! Tell me about a Precipere!” Pidge insisted. She nodded.

         “I meet a Precipere who can’t dance,” she said.

         “What?” Pidge glanced up. Coran had suggested that the Precipere were all magnificent dancers. Keith had agreed.

         “He cannot dance with a partner without injuring them or himself,” she explained. “I ask him to demonstrate, as he cannot harm me. He twists his ankle after a very poor attempt at a simple dance.”

         “How does he function? His culture is all about that stuff!” Pidge felt a little bad for this guy; he’d be an outcast.

         “He travels seeking his song. He thinks he finds it in this city,” Aevi explained softly. “While he trips at every elegant dance of his people, he steps with the rhythm of the city here. His song is quite unique,” she smiled, and Pidge found herself smiling too. Before she could ask for another story, Aevi paused.

         “Ah…” she said, looking towards the edge of the drop off. Pidge followed her eyes and saw a flicker of a figure there. Another hologram. She stepped closer and Aevi followed. After a moment, Pidge realized this figure looked exactly like her own travelling companion, though fainter and not always there. She flickered in and out of existence.

         “Oh, is this another program like you?” Pidge asked. Aevi watched the figure for a long moment. There was no sound, though the mouth seemed to be moving. It sat on the edge of the drop off as if speaking to two people sitting on either side, but no one was there. The hologram split now and again, then pressed back together, as if her attention was literally torn between the two sides.

         “It is not another. I am here,” she replied, watching the dim shadow of herself. The second image seemed to split and reform as her head turned back and forth. Her smile became soft, but it seemed almost sad. “I am here again,” she said, her voice quiet. It seemed off, not quite fitting in her regular speech pattern. One of the two layered forms, stood to leave and flickered away. “But it is here for you,” she tagged on.

         “What do you mean?” Pidge asked. The remaining figure became too dim to see anymore, even in the faint light. Something glimmered where it had been, masked by the projections before. Aevi walked over to it and, to Pidge’s surprise, picked what looked to be a solid object up. She walked back over and offered the dusty object to Pidge.

        It was a bracelet, thick and rounded. She took it gingerly, assuming it had sat there for thousands of years. It still felt solid under her fingers, though, made of the same strong stuff everything else here was. She dusted it off to see a faint yellow glow coming from it.

         “It is a kindness you repay,” Aevi informed cryptically. Before Pidge could ask questions, she went on. “You are a citizen,” she gestured for Pidge to put on the bracelet and it took a moment for her to realize what that meant. Citizens could call for transport.

        Pidge squeezed her hand into the yellow glowing band and felt suddenly a deep vibration seeping into her arm stronger than ever. She wiped the dust away more fervently as the buzzing settled into her, fighting with the vibrations of the world at first, until instead it synced with them. _She_ synced with them. For the first time she felt solid and still since she had stepped onto the planet.

        The band flashed and opened, a screen appearing before her. She beamed at it. Traversing rough terrain and navigating wastelands weren’t her forte, but hacking into a computer system? Yes. This she could do.

        At once the world around her felt less ominous. The system was practical and clear, and she hurried herself to the nearest terminal when she realized she could connect to the larger planetary grid with the Citizen’s Access Band. Excitement thrummed through her tired limbs. She forgot about the aches of lifted arms and sleeping on hard metal.

         “This is beautiful,” she cooed as her fingers flitted over the lit up terminal command pad. It really was. The whole system felt so natural. She’d hacked into Galra, Altean, and many other alien computer systems. None of them had felt so logical and perfect. Here, though, here was a system that she couldn’t think of a way to improve. She felt a little in love.

 

        It wasn’t until her wrist beeped that she blinked and realized her eyes burned, eyelids scraping over them like sandpaper. A fierce light hit her from the horizon as she looked, shocked to realize it was daybreak. Day should still be vargas away, but, clearly she’d lost count of the time at the terminal.

        She had left the transport program far behind, forgetting entirely what she’d been using the band for to begin with. It took another long moment to realize that the beeping wasn’t from the terminal, but her wrist computer. It had started working some time since she put on the band. The screen had clear and no static showed even in her connection to her Lion.

         “Oh… it’s a protection against invaders. If they aren’t sanctioned guests with wrist bands to get into the party, their tech gets scrambled…” Pidge said to herself.

         “Not quite,” Aevi replied. Pidge started in her seat. “but it is necessary to regulate access as Galra attacks increase.” She hadn’t even remembered Aevi was still there. Or maybe she had assumed her task was done and she’d be gone. She was glad, now, that that wasn’t the case.

         “It’s a pretty brilliant defense system, either way. Gotta give you guys props,” She said grinning. “Oh, so can I interface my tech with the system now with this then?” Pidge asked, but didn’t wait for a response. She linked her locator program to the main computer and it fell into place seamlessly, like it was made for her technology to be incorporated. That sense of home sunk in deeper.

         “The transport takes you to the nearest stop to your chosen location,” Aevi reported, watching over her shoulder. Pidge nodded, hitting the call button. In the distance, there was a loud noise, like a mechanical beast creaking to life after a long slumber. It took long while for the thing to lumber its way over, and it wasn’t exactly what Pidge expected when it did.

        Flashing lights warned her of its approach, but she ignored them to peer down from the edge to watch it come. Pidge had expected something huge, to make it up to the high landing she was on. Now looking at it with the system up and running again, she could see that it wasn’t made for mass transit behemoths, but instead it was an organized super highway for smaller sized transports.

        The transport she’d called leapt from rail to rail, lighting each up briefly as it came to the side she was on and stopped below her. Then it proceeded to lift itself quickly up to the top level. It was about a third the size of a train cart and made a harsh grinding noise as a platform latched to the ledge near her. She wondered why such small transports needed such a steep drop off to run in, but watching it hover above the tracks she hypothesized there was once multiple layers of traffic coursing through the ravine. The door opened, and the lights inside came to life with the same halting determination of the flickering street lights.

        Pidge stepped in and cringed at the musty aroma that hit her, but as she continued her nose adjusted well enough. There were simple seats lining the edges like she was stepping into a subway cart, but it felt cozier, less utilitarian. She went to find a seat and glanced back at Aevi at the doorway.

         “Are you… coming?” she asked, suddenly loathed at the thought of losing her companion now. Aevi smiled and stepped in.

         “I am,” she agreed.

 

        Pidge sat down, Aevi’s translucent form next to her. The cart dropped and then lurched into motion. It was not perfectly smooth, but for thousands of years of disuse, it ran like a dream.

        Aevi hummed. The noise was warm and soft. Pidge tried to watch the scenery outside flash by, but as soon as she sat she felt weariness rush over her. The humming complimented the sounds of the transport, weaving them into the song.

        Pidge dreamed of home for the first time without anxiety laced into it. She dreamed of card games and the smell of Earth spring, gardens and dirt. There were neat little drawings of plants on the wall, carefully cut out and framed above the stove. Scientific articles tacked to the fridge with magnets, commentary scribbled into the margins. Warm arms wrapped around her.

         “You will do great things, Katie,” A soft, familiar voice promised her. “All you have to do is wakeup.”

 

        Pidge was surprised to find herself able to lean on the form of Aevi, even after she’d seen the hologram pick up the bracelet earlier. She looked down at Pidge.

         “We are here,” she informed.

         “How long ago?” Pidge asked groggily trying to get her bearings. Morning light filtered in through the dust coated windows.

         “Now,” Aevi replied. Pidge checked her wrist. Aevi was lying, they’d been there a varga at least, according to her tracker. She didn’t point this out, unsure if Aevi simply hadn’t wanted to wake her or if it had something to do with the apparent lack of a past tense in her vocabulary. Pidge stood and Aevi followed her.

        Where she had been leaning on Aevi tingled slightly, like before she’d let the bracelet sync her with the planet. The feeling passed soon enough. Pidge lugged her pack back over her shoulder and started out, following her wrist as she tracked down the location she’d originally planned to set down at. It was luckily close to the tracks.

        Pidge set to constructing the last of her Comm units. She’d done so many at this point it felt natural, and her hands moved with little thought. It had taken almost a full year of research and work, and reworking systems, but it was almost done.

        When the little beacon lit up and chimed for her, echoed by her wrist, Pidge grinned. She was automatically informed that her Lion was on the way and the idea of the warm rations that she’d left as a victory snack for herself made her sigh with relief.

         “You are leaving,” Aevi said. She didn’t ask, she simply seemed to understand this.

         “Yeah,” Pidge said with an apologetic smile. The program could’t get many travelers anymore. It probably wouldn’t get another for a long time.

         “It is a pleasure, Pidge,” Aevi said. Pidge smiled, but then started.

         “How did you know that name?” she asked. Her mind raced. Had she opened her own personal information to the whole planetary system when she’d linked the tech? No. She never listed herself as Pidge in her system, using more obscure codenames for hacking. Her mind raced.

         “I am sorry. I do not mean to confuse you. When I meet you, it makes sense to you,” she replied.

         “When you meet…-You’ve already met me,” Pidge said, furrowing her brows.

         “Yes, but I think it is to come for you,” she said. Pidge paused, trying to decipher this.

         “What, like the future?” The program seemed to consider this.

         “For you,” she agreed.

         “You time travel?” Pidge asked. She wanted to scoff, but, well, they’d seen odder things. They’d even time jumped, though that she could explain better than having knowledge of the future.

         “I travel in time. As do you,” she replied.

         “I move forward in time, that’s different,” Pidge argued.

         “Yes. I travel different,” she agreed. Pidge wanted to argue with the simplicity, but instead she laughed. She was too tired, and overwhelmed, and the Green Lion was going to be here soon with food.

         “Tell me something about future me, then,” Pidge asked.

         “You are taller,” Aevi said. Pidge was about to ask for something better, but Aevi was smiling. She was being teased.

         “All right!” Pidge said instead, “I don’t stay a shrimp forever. I’ll take a growth spurt as the only fortune telling I get.” The shadow of green covered them, letting Aevi shimmer a little brighter.

         “Tell me a story when I meet you,” Aevi requested after a moment. It was almost drowned out by the sound of Pidge’s ride setting down next to her.

         “All right, it’s a deal. Storytime next time we meet, when I’m taller!” Pidge agreed. Aevi smiled as Pidge started towards the Lion. She turned back around to give a final fair well, maybe jog back over for a handshake. Instead Aevi was gone. Pidge paused staring at where she had been. The planet felt quiet and lonely again.

        She rushed into Green, and to check the Comm link.

 

        Her mom didn’t pick up. She sat, fingers tapping anxiously on her helmet held tight on her lap. That was okay. She might be out. She might have moved. There were plenty of possibilities. She had the equipment not though, she just had to sort out the details. And she had time. It didn’t do much to ease the knot in her stomach for the rest of the flight back to the castle.

        She stepped out of the docking bay with a sigh. She was tired and needed a shower and some good solid food. Hunk’s food. 

         “Hey!”

        Pidge jumped as Keith rounded the corner and nearly lifted her right off her feet as he grabbed her. His face was painted with a quiet concern after looking her over with a critical eye.

        "Please, no training right now.  _Yes,_ I know sometimes we’ll have to fight right after a mission and it’ll be good for me to learn how to fight under duress or something. Just… not today,” she pleaded. Her voice felt weak.

         “Oh… I didn’t even think of that. That’s a good idea,” he replied thoughtfully. Pidge groaned and Keith started to laugh. Keith didn’t dote on her like the other paladins. It was nice usually, but today she just wanted to be given a bowl of Hunk’s ‘You Won’t Believe it’s Not Chicken’ Soup and to take a four hour shower. “Calm down, I just need a favor,” he said. She relaxed a little.

         “Oh, okay then. I need your help,” he replied. Pidge laughed. Keith didn’t dote on her like the other paladins. It was nice usually, but today she just wanted to be given a bowl of Hunk’s ‘You Won’t Believe it’s Not Chicken’ Soup and to take a four hour shower.

         “Can’t it wait?” Pidge groaned. Keith was already wheeling her around and pushing her along at a fast pace her legs didn’t agree with.

         “You tell me. I couldn’t find our calendar converter while you were away. What’s tomorrow?” Keith asked. Pidge narrowed her eyes for a moment, doing a bit of quick math in her head to convert her time away into days and figure the date.

         “It’d be… July 28th?” she offered, mostly sure.

         “Then nope! Need your help tonight,” he replied.

        “Oh, yeah,” Pidge said, remembering the plan, then an idea sparked in her mind. Weariness left her, “I think I can do you one better.” She might not have gotten through to _her_ home, but that didn’t mean someone else wouldn’t be able to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love writing little Pidge, sci-fi one shots! I have a bunch of half finished once. Would anyone be interested in more? Otherwise I'll probably just finish this story line off with a second chapter.


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